Today we see a little more of the small town (in-game) of Ferrara and then move on to Bologna.
Evening mist as we leave the farm.
Town centre at dusk. Looks like someone kitbashed a streetlight together with the top of a communications tower. SCS? ProMods? Lelux?
Found a place to sleep.
The next morning we set off to the local chemical plant to pick up some Sodium Hypochlorite, which apparently is used in disinfectant or bleach.
Ready to go with a nice-looking tanker trailer.
It's not at all far from Ferrara to Bologna in-game. Just a couple of minutes. From what I've seen so far, it seems that the old SCS policy of just having people drive from one industrial estate to another without showing much that's recognisable and special about the destination was still in place when they made this DLC. Justification - that's what truck drivers normally experience. It allowed them to pack a lot of 'cities' into the DLC, and the 'Italian feeling' is conveyed by the scenery and occasional villages. That's what I'm expecting based on what I've seen so far. If that's the case then lelux's mod is very welcome indeed.
The problem with this policy, or at least with applying it everywhere, is that ETS2 doesn't really have much by way of gameplay. It's about picking things up, driving to another place and dropping them off. And that's about it. And if the places you are travelling between all look the same, you don't have the feeling you're actually 'going' anywhere. It's a mechanical and pointless act bereft of joy, once you've got used to the simplistic management stuff, unlocked all the 'tuning' parts and made so much money you don't know what to do with it.
I'm glad they've moved away from this approach in their later DLCs. It's wonderful to see something of a town or city, some interesting monuments, custom buildings, and so on, and feel like you've actually travelled to somewhere real. Makes the 'game' feel far more realistic, and less pointless. Sometimes SCS get criticised for just making a 'scenery simulator', but if pumping out new map DLCs is what they've chosen to focus on instead of improving gameplay in a variety of areas, they might as well do it right. And I definitely support their drive to cover all of Europe and the US, it's a very cool idea and I want to see it happen.
See, Italy is an Iveco Country.
Cool bridges en route also help with the realism and wakefulness...
Approaching Bologna. Of course, 'it's early days yet' and perhaps there will be some properly realised cities later in the DLC. But right now I'm not expecting miracles. I'd rather they'd picked one place in the local region and done it properly, instead of 3 not-very-interesting jobsite zones with distant scenery packed in close together. But back then SCS were still expanding, and they probably just didn't have the staff to make unique-looking destinations yet.
The Italian vibe is still very well done, and I'm expecting some picturesque roads with villages, a few landmarks, and motorways with attractive backdrops. I've been looking forward to this tour for 7 years! I'm not going to let the slight dated-ness of the DLC get me down.
Delivering to a site just outside town. Then we'll see some of what Bologna has to offer, scenery-wise.
Yep, they wanted it here, honest. The cistern bubbling with Sodium Hypochlorite is, er, parked just round the corner.
Bologna airport. Fully functioning, I appreciate it.
Local train and fire truck.
Green and leafy road as we re-enter Bologna.
Off to get the next cargo.
Bologna has several parts, and we'll be back soon to see more of it. Right now we need to take these cars to the Comoto plant in Suzzara. Maybe they've been recalled due to some fault.
The road fixtures and vegetation have a nice look.
Off to Suzzara, then. We'll visit that town and possibly vanilla Verona next time.
Cheers! Krigl
